The U.S. Army and the Indians sign a peace treaty. However, a group of surveyors trespass on the Indians' land and violate the treaty. The army refuses to listen to the Indians' complaints, and the surveyors are killed by the Indians. A vicious Indian war ensues, culminating in an Indian attack on an army fort.
Direction
Thomas Ince invented the Western template here.
Practical Effects
Real Native American actors — radical for 1912.
Director
Francis Ford
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
William Eagle Shirt was a genuine Sioux performer — rare casting for an era that preferred white actors in redface.
Ince later mythologized the same genocide in 'The Birth of a Western' — this early version is accidentally more honest about who's invading whom.
US
